


Through the Flames

by Nightshade_Blaize



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Everything's Fine At The End I Promise, F/M, GabeNath Covert Cupid, Gabriel Agreste does not handle grief well, Implied they gave up, Nightmares, Not Really Character Death, Post-Canon, Rogue Sentimonster, giftfic, ish?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29263971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightshade_Blaize/pseuds/Nightshade_Blaize
Summary: It was supposed to be the last attempt they would have to make. Hawkmoth had agreed to the plan because of how well Mayura had thought it through.He quickly regretted it.
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33
Collections: GabeNath Covert Cupid 2021





	Through the Flames

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadowMayura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowMayura/gifts).



> This was my gift for the GNBCAC's Covert Cupid Event! I admit it's rather intimidating when you plan on getting one of the other general members and then your mod says "surprise! you got the big boss!" 
> 
> That being said, I also apparently don't know how to read guidelines very well because I was more than halfway through writing this when I realized one of the rules was "nothing based on another work". but I pressed on with this one because it felt more personal to the person I had. (I got the inspiration from a piece of fanart they did a while back)

‘It was never supposed to go this far..’ that’s what Hawkmoth was thinking to himself as he sprinted across Parisian rooftops illuminated by a backdrop of flame and debris. He had agreed to Mayura’s plan with little forethought as she was generally the more organized of them. However, after more than an hour of no communication from his partner, he had begun to worry. It seemed their plan had worked a little too well, and now the city was paying the price for it. 

As he searched, he kept trying to reach out to her, keenly aware of the panic building in his chest. He tried to swallow his nerves down when she didn’t answer for the eleventh time. He heard the roar of the rouge sentimonster from elsewhere in the carnage of the city and shuddered. He felt his heart lurch when he saw a flash of blue amidst the rubble below. With a pang forming in his chest, he dropped down nearby. Her closed eyes gave the illusion of sleep but her broken body was still… far too still.

“Mayura?” Hawkmoth was silently begging for her to stir. “Mayura!” He went to his knees and pulled her into his arms, feeling the heat rise to his face as tears formed in his eyes. He supported her head under one of his gloved hands as he tried desperately to rouse her. “Don’t do this…. You can’t leave me too..” He pleaded. He could hear the sounds of the battle nearing their location and knew they had to relocate, but he didn’t want to take the risk in case the woman was merely injured; a futile hope, his mind supplied, as she was already beginning to feel cold. 

He was about to leave, now that he found her it was only a matter of keeping her safe and away from the flames until the heroes finished their fight, when he heard two pairs of feet hit the ground behind him. “Right on time” He grumbled to himself.

“Nowhere to run butterfly man!” Chat Noir goaded. “Once we beat you and take your miraculous, that monster will be a piece of kitty cake!” The insufferable boy seemed to push Hawkmoth over the edge as he turned on them both. 

From behind, Ladybug had thought Mayura had had another weak spell and fallen in Hawkmoth's arms. Now that she could see, however, she balked and her expression faltered. 

“What happened?” She whispered, looking from the woman back to the villain. 

“If you aren’t going to fight then get out of my way.” He growled in warning before he remembered what the ladybugs power could do. “You… you can make it right.” Ladybug didn’t like the way his eyes glinted when he spoke, almost like a madman.

“What are you talking about?” She stepped closer to Chat, anticipating a fight.

“Use your power and set everything right!” He snarled at the girl. Ladybug stepped back in fear, tears falling from her eyes.

“I can’t!” She cried. “I can’t use it until after I use the lucky charm!” Chat Noir stepped between the two of them, staff raised in warning. His emerald eyes were narrowed dangerously at the villain. Hawkmoth understood the unspoken threat and his mouth curled in anger as he turned to leave, to move his partner to a safer place.

“Then I suggest you two heroes should go find the sentimonster and put it to use, quickly.” 

“Come back here you coward!” Chat went to charge but Ladybug held him back by the belt and shook her head, indicating that they should actually listen to him. There would be another day to fight Hawkmoth. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Nathalie…” Gabriel croaked as he brushed the hair from her face. Behind him, Nooroo and Duusu floated silently, their heads hung solemnly. He set her down in her bed, careful to remove her glasses and set them aside. “What were you thinking?” he asked, knowing now that he would get no reply. 

“She was thinking of you, Master.” Nooroo supplied carefully, not lifting his head. Gabriel didn’t seem to appreciate this interruption and turned on them both.

“Why was she out there alone!? Why didn’t you tell me sooner!?” He roared at Nooroo before turning his attention to Duusu. “And _YOU_! Why didn’t you stop her?! Why couldn’t you leave well enough alone!?” He screamed in anger at the blue kwami who, for once, was silent. “Every person who touches you, _THIS_ happens to them!” Duusu shrank back with every screamed word, sparkling tears began to flow from their eyes. 

“I was just trying to help Miss Nathalie help you.” the tiny birdlike creature sobbed. “I… I didn’t mean for-”

“Of course not,” Gabriel scoffed “‘you didn’t mean it’. You _never_ ‘mean it’, but because of _YOU, Nathalie_ is _dead_! _My wife is dead_! You ruin _everything_ you touch! It would have been better if we’d never found you!” A nearby crash distracted his attention and he looked out the window. For now, it seemed that the raging Sentimonster was content enough to leave his home standing. Having ensured their temporary safety, he went back to the bed.

“Master…” Nooroo began to speak but Gabriel cut him off with a glare. 

“Leave.” It was not a request, nor was it spoken as a scream, rather, it seemed to be choked. The Kwamis both disappeared with a puff of light, leaving him alone with only his thoughts for company. He sat beside her, taking her hand in his and trying to rub warmth into the cold digits, hoping against all hope that the heroes actually managed to pull off this victory. 

After what seemed like hours, though truly it may have only been a few minutes; with how grief had fogged Gabriels mind, he heard the rush of magical ladybugs swarming over the city, making everything as it had been before the attack. With a glimmer of hope, he gave the hand he had been clutching a gentle squeeze. The hand, however, remained limp and cold in his grasp. 

Gabriel sat upright in bed, his heart pounding in his chest and his body covered in a cold sweat. Beside him, he could hear a small gasp and the mattress shift as its other occupant rolled over to face him, no doubt having been woken by his start.

“Gabriel?” she blinked up at him in confusion. Without thinking, Gabriel pulled Nathalie into his arms, holding her to his chest tightly enough that he could feel her heart beating behind her ribs and her lungs desperately pulling air. He buried his face in her hair as tears of relief soaked into her roots. Nathalie was alive; drowsy, no doubt confused, but alive. They had given up, Gabriel remembered once his initial panic had subsided. He’d counted it a small blessing at the time that Nathalie retained no memory of what had occurred. He’d made an excuse as to why they couldn’t proceed with her plan, wishing to never relive such a hellish experience. 

It was weeks later, when the nightmares started, that Gabriel finally relented and told Nathalie the truth. He told her how they had gone along with her plan and how he had gone out to find her, and everything that had happened between that time and now. Nathalie listened quietly, keeping her face neutral as could be managed. When he was finished, she calmly nodded and asked what happened to Duusu and the peacock miraculous. Gabriel frowned but admitted that after his outburst he had hidden both it and the butterfly brooch, intending for neither to be used again. Since that time, the late night panic attacks had become a regular occurrence.

“I close my eyes and it's like I’m back there.” He explained, sitting heavily against the headboard, rubbing his eyes. “Ladybug uses her power but it can't bring you back to me.” 

“But it did.” Nathalie frowned, moving closer to rest her head on his chest. “I woke up, you told me we couldn’t continue, and we stopped.” She yawned quietly, nuzzling into his shirt to get comfortable. “You released Nooroo and Duusu to return to the Guardian by their own choice and we buried Emilie a few months after that.” 

Gabriel frowned in thought at her words, his mind racing to remember and keep up with his assist-no… wife. Nathalie was his wife now, they’d been married for almost a year. And she was right, of course, one of the stipulations of their relationship continuing had been to apologize to the kwamis and set them free, along with the grimoire. 

“It was just a dream Gabriel,” Nathalie yawned again, taking one of his hands and placing it against her chest. Her steady pulse rang under his fingertips. “I’m still here, I’ll always be here.” she paused to kiss his cheek “It’s late, we should go back to sleep.” He agreed and sank back down with her nestled safely in his arms, his heavy eyes slowly falling closed as he kissed her forehead, hearing her breathing slow and fall into an even, sleeping pattern.

**Author's Note:**

> So... yeah xD it was a dream all along.


End file.
